Family Business
by Blue Beluga
Summary: PrePP.  Vlad finally succeeds in eliminating Jack, though not without a price.  Danny and Jazz take it upon themselves to permanently fix the problem that is Vlad Masters. OneShot. Rating because I’m not sure.


DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely nothing associated with Danny Phantom.

AN: A bit long and was written well before Phantom Planet (way back in November). It's actually a chapter and a half from a story that I was writing that ended up being mothballed, so I don't think it flows as well as my other semi-long one shots. I actually tend to do that a lot, write a bunch and then dump the story before I ever get around to posting it. I'll probably rant more about it at the bottom.

* * *

Family Business.

"Did I thank you for helping me out already?" Danny asked idly, drumming his fingers on the dashboard of the Specter Speeder. He had just finished a four-way battle between himself and three other ghosts, namely Skulker, Ember, and Technus. The fight had actually meandered well away from the city into the hills surrounding Amity Park.

"You did," Jazz replied, smiling as she drove the Specter Speeder home. "I take it it's a bit harder to hunt with Sam and Tucker gone?"

"Yeah, just a little. The fighting isn't too difficult, but having someone to watch your back just makes things easier."

It was already two weeks into summer vacation and Danny was really missing his friends. Sam's parents had dragged her off to a Summer-long tour of Europe to supposedly "take a break from all this ghost weirdness," though Sam thought, and Danny agreed, that they wanted to get her away from him and his family.

Tucker was gone for more productive reasons. He had applied for, and been accepted, to a sort of summer internship for a major tech company. While not technically an internship, Tucker would be learning about high-tech businesses and how they functioned. It was really part of the company's long-term recruiting drive, but offered Tucker a great opportunity that Danny wasn't going to let his friend miss just because of the whole ghost business.

"So," Jazz interrupted Danny's thoughts, "what are you going to do when I leave in a month for college?"

"I don't know, probably try and lure them over to Valerie's apartment and let her deal with them. I figure that even if she finds out that it's me, she can't hate me more than she already does."

"Danny…" Jazz trailed off, shaking her head.

"I know, I know," he replied, holding his hands up defensively, "I shouldn't aggravate her. But it's been almost two years and she still thinks I'm the bad guy. I've practically given up on convincing her."

"I bet Sam and Tucker were happy to hear that."

"Yeah," he finished, staring out the window. As Jazz was watching the road, a troubling thought crossed her mind.

"You don't think they ever just get tired of fighting you?" Jazz said as she passed a car on the highway.

"Huh?" came Danny's eloquent reply.

"The ghosts," Jazz clarified. "I would imagine their collective frustration could easily lead them to ganging up on you." Danny shook his head, looking more awake as he considered the fight that had just taken place.

"I don't think so. Tucker brought up the possibility a while ago, so I talked to Clockwork about it."

"And?" Jazz pushed, curious.

"After listening through another lecture on how I shouldn't come to him with all my problems, he finally deemed it right to answer my question." Danny rolled his eyes theatrically. He had to admit that he liked the ancient ghost, after all he did save Danny from himself. Still, Clockwork could be extremely difficult to talk to, especially if the ancient spirit thought something should be learned on one's own.

"So," Danny continue, "It seems that since I have a simple capture and release policy, they see it as no harm, no foul. The whole hunting, world domination thing apparently keeps them busy, despite the occasional suffering they have to endure. They are all pretty much aware that, in the grand scheme of things, the life of a halfa is short compared to the eternity of being a ghost. They'll just wait me out. Otherwise, it would take something really bad for them to unite against me."

"Did he happen to say would such bad thing you would have to do to force them to unite?" Jazz paused a moment to start up the rockets of the Specter Speeder. "You know, something that would lead to retaliation?"

"No, so I had to talk to Dora about it," Danny replied, "on hindsight, I should have made Tucker do it since it was his question. But anyway, according to Dora, if I were to hand them over to my parents, that would be a bad thing, since they want to tear a ghost apart molecule by molecule. A fate a whole lot worse than a few hours in a Fenton Thermos, or so she said."

"So as long as you don't threaten the ghosts very existence, they won't unify?"

"That's what it sounds like."

"That makes sense," Jazz replied, turning onto the freeway that would take them to Amity Park.

"It does?" he then glanced out the window, "and is this thing street legal?"

"Of course it does Danny, and yes, it is. Mom made sure of that when Dad rebuilt it after your friends crashed it. Anyway, if you think about it, ghosts are spirits who haven't been able to move on, either because of unfinished business or an unwillingness to accept their death. The idea of their very essence being destroyed must be terrifying. If they knew that capture by you would lead to their destruction, it wouldn't be hard to imagine them uniting against you."

"Oh, I guess that does make sense." He sat back for a moment, frowning.

"What is it?"

"If Dora was right, then what happened to make these three unite? And badly at that?"

"Badly?" Now Jazz was looking at her brother concerned.

"Yeah," Danny continued, "they really weren't fighting like they normally do. They were hesitating a lot, like they were unwillingly fighting."

"Maybe they…" She was cut off as there was a flash of bright light on the horizon, soon followed by a small mushroom cloud of dark green and black smoke was rising from Amity Park.

"That can't be good. You don't think it's coming from…"

"Our place?" Danny finished. "Yeah, I do."

Without saying another word, Jazz hit the accelerator, propelling the vehicle forward at unsafe speeds. Cruising a good fifteen feet above the ground, they flew over traffic, rushing to their home.

The closer they got to the city, a knot of fear began to grow in the pits of the two teens stomachs. The smoke appeared to be originating from the part of the city where Fenton Works was located, practically confirming their worst fears.

"Daniel," Vlad said as he approached the young boy in the police station, an insincere look of regret plastered on his face, "what a terrible thing to happen to your family. I'm so sorry."

"Mr. Mayor," the inspector who had been talking to Danny staetd at Vlad's approach. "What can I help you with?"

"I just wanted to say my condolences to young Daniel here. You see, I'm an old friend of the family as I went to school with his father."

"Than I'm sorry for your loss of a friend as well, Mayor Masters," the inspector said cordially. "Danny here isn't too sure what could have happened to cause the explosion. Since you knew Jack Fenton, I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

"Yes, Daniel never did show much interest in his father's work, a pity that. However, if I were to guess," he paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, "I would say it might have been the portal. If say, the ecto filter was to become overloaded, it would, perhaps, explain the explosion."

Vlad turned his attention from the inspector to Danny.

"Tell me Daniel, wasn't it _your_ job to change the filter?"

"Yes," Danny replied in a false calm, glaring at Vlad, who had turned his attention back to the inspector.

"Tell me, just how many were killed in the explosion?"

"Our last count was twenty one," the inspector replied, "most of were in their homes. The blast took out the entire block"

"Tragic," Vlad replied calmly, "you must feel terrible Danny, if it was the portal that blew up…"

"Shut up Vlad," Danny hissed, "it wasn't the ecto-filter. I changed it just the other day."

"Really? Are you sure?" Vlad smirked while the inspector was looking between the two in confusion. "After all, Maddie has told me what a terrible memory you have."

"I'm positive," Danny replied, fighting to prevent his eyes from flashing, something that would give Vlad far too much amusement and create problems with the inspector.

"I'm sure you are," Vlad replied in that obnoxious, placating tone he uses. "Then perhaps a ghost?"

"It's something we are still looking into, Mr. Masters," the inspector butted in diplomatically. "However, right now Mr. Fenton here needs his rest so I have to kindly ask you to leave."

"Oh, I understand completely," Vlad smirked. "One more thing, though."

"Yes?"

"If you could tell whoever deals with this sort of thing that I would be more than willing to take in Daniel and Jasmine if they have nowhere else to go. A favor, you could say, for my dear old friend Jack."

"I have an aunt you know," Danny cut in, wishing the inspector wasn't there so he could attack the older half-ghost.

"Her? Daniel, please, Spittoon Arkansas is hardly a place for someone such as yourself or a genius like Jasmine to live. Besides, I doubt your aunt can afford to take care of two teenagers."

"First of all, Jazz has full ride scholarships so no one has to pay for her. Second of all, you could always give her some money, you know, as a favor for my parents and all that."

"That is a possibility Daniel," Vlad replied neutrally.

"Look," the inspector cut in again, "this can all be dealt with later. Right now Mr. Fenton needs his rest and I need to file some paperwork."

"Of course," Vlad replied, turning to leave, "how rude of me. If you need to get a hold of me, I'll be at my home."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Mayor," the inspector replied. "Have a good night."

Smirking, Vlad nodded to the investigator as he stepped into the elevator.

"Now Mr. Fenton," the investigator said, turning back to Danny, "were putting you and your sister up in a hotel for a few days as custody is figured out. If you'll follow me, an officer downstairs will give you a ride."

Danny nodded and without saying a word, followed the investigator down to the patrol car that was waiting for him. The ride was relatively quick and before he knew it, he was handed a keycard and left in his and his sister's hotel room.

Taking a quick look around, he found Jazz fast asleep on one of the beds, though it looked like she had been crying. He took a moment to tuck her in, mostly to comfort himself that she was still there than due to any chill in the air. Sighing, he kicked off his shoes and slipped into his bed, though he didn't feel like sleeping.

Staring at the ceiling in the darkness, he struggled to push away the pain of losing his family and his home. Mourning could wait for later. Right now, he had to figure out what to do.

He knew Vlad was right about one thing, that it was most likely the portal that had exploded. He remembered vividly the simulation his dad had shown him about what would happen if the portal overloaded and the results of that simulation matched the reality of what had happened.

However, he also knew that it wasn't the filter. He distinctly recalled replacing the filter two days ago, under the watchful gaze of his parents, unbeknownst to him, and had resulted in the family eating out to celebrate him doing it without needing a reminder.

Instinctively, he knew Vlad was behind this somehow. His resolve steeling, he made a decision. He was going to take care of the older hybrid once and for all. The only true weapon against him that he had up till now was the threat of exposing him to his mother, who Vlad was obsessed with. With her out of the way and his experience at manipulating people and laws, it was only a matter of time before he was put in the man's custody, something Danny felt was intolerable.

Rolling over, he grabbed the complimentary pen and paper pad from the nightstand and, forming a dim ball of green energy in his hand, he began jotting down his plan.

-DP-

"You're out of your mind," Jazz whispered after Danny had finished explaining his scheme to her over dinner they had delivered to their room.

"Do you want to live with Vlad, have him in charge of us?"

"That's not the point Danny! You are talking about murder!"

"Look Jazz, I know he was involved and you know it too."

"That still doesn't make what you're suggesting right," she shot back, still whispering as she didn't want to take the chance of being overheard.

"No, it's not right, but it is necessary. You know as well as I do that it will only be a matter of time before he gains custody of us. Keep in mind that Vlad is not a good person. He released Pariah for his own gain, sends ghosts to attack Amity Park, and tried to force us to kill each other. With us and Valerie under his control no longer a threat, do you really think he will temper his actions?"

"I still don't know…"

"How about all the times he tried to kill dad? How he purposefully infected my friends with ecto acne to force us to save his life? God knows what was going to do with me after he created his perfect clone! To top it all off, we have no idea just how far the man has gone to acquire his business empire. And, just to add frosting to this cake, there is no way we can prove any of this in court!"

Not replying, Jazz stood up and began to pace. Danny watched her, nervous. In his heart, he believed Vlad Masters had to be taken care of, but there was no way he was going to do anything without the support of his sister.

"What if we get caught?"

"I will be going as Phantom and we'll just say that I had one of my ghostly minions overshadow you."

"Ghostly minions?" despite the severity of the situation and the events of yesterday, a small smirk formed on her face.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard the rumor going around that all those ghost fights are staged?" She shook her head, indicating that she had not. "Well, you see, there are some who think I stage those fights to gain the trust of the people and that I am in cahoots with the other ghosts."

"You know that would truly make Phantom public enemy number one."

"I know, but I am willing to sacrifice Phantom for this cause and for the Fentons, especially you."

"Do you really think it will work?"

"I think so, but you're the genius. Do _you_ think it will work?"

"Yeah," she paused a moment, "I think it will."

"Good, then we act tonight."

"Do you want to wait for Sam or Tucker to get back?"

"No. This is family business. No need for them to get their hands dirty."

-DP-

Office Clark sighed as he waited outside the hotel in his patrol car. He had been given the assignment of keeping an eye on the two Fenton's. The chief was afraid that if Mayor Vlad was right and that it was a ghost responsible for the explosion, it might come for the kids as well.

"Teens," he corrected himself, muttering under his breath.

He understood that someone had to do this job, he just would have preferred that it was someone other than him. Babysitting two grieving youths wasn't what he had in mind when he joined the police force.

"What the…?" Out of the corner of his eye, Clark noticed the girl, Jazz, storming out of the hotel, her face red. He quickly stepped out of the car to confront her.

"Ms. Fenton!" he cried out, jogging over to where she was getting into the strange vehicle that the two teens had arrived in two days earlier. "Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business!" she yelled at him, tears pouring from her eyes as she started powering the vehicle up.

"I'm afraid it is. I was given orders to make sure the ghost who did this doesn't come after you or your brother."

"Fine," she growled, clearly irritated. "I'm going to Uncle Vlads."

Without another word, she closed the door to the strange floating vehicle and sped off. Officer Clark just shook his head, deciding that it really wasn't worth it to pursue her, despite her obvious disregard for the speed limit.

He turned around, intending to go back to his car, when he was once again interrupted.

"Jazz! Jazz!"

Sighing once again, Office Clark turned back to the hotel entrance, this time to see the boy, Danny, running out into the street.

"Hey!" Danny called out, jogging over to Clark. "You didn't happen to see my sister, did you?"

"Yeah, she left about a minute ago."

"I don't suppose she happened to mention where she was going?" The black haired teen looked at him with such a sad expression, it almost broke his heart.

"Yeah, she said she was going to Uncle Vlads," Clark replied, his concern growing at the broken look on the boys face when he heard that.

"Oh," he said meekly. "I- I'm going to my room. If anyone asks for me, tell them I want to be left alone."

"Sure, but what happened?" Danny sighed at this, looking guilty.

"We had an argument and I sort of said some things I shouldn't have."

"I'm sorry," he replied, feeling awkward at trying to comfort the teen. "Um, why did she go off to Mayor Vlad?"

"He offered to take us in," Danny replied, "I wanted to stay with our aunt, but apparently that isn't good enough for perfect little Jazz." Danny finished with a snarl, turning around back to the hotel.

"Mr. Fenton…"

"Just leave me alone!" he spat back, sulking back into the hotel lobby. Sighing, Officer Clark pulled out his phone to inform the chief what had transpired.

-DP-

"You ready to do this?" Danny, invisible, whispered in his sister's ear as he floated next to her as they approached the front door to Vlad's castle.

"Yeah," she whispered back. "Did they buy our little act?"

"Of course," he said, grinning. "Good luck."

Danny sunk into the ground, his earpiece letting him hear whatever Jazz said so he would know when it was time.

Jazz, for her part, was trying to make sure her tears were as realistic as possible, which was pretty easy as all she had to do was think of her parents. Quickly working herself, she pounded on the door to the castle, trying to hold back her sniffles. She didn't have to wait long until the door was flung open to reveal the annoyed visage of Vlad Masters.

"Who is it…Oh, hello Jasmine," his face instantly turned into one of concern, his voice suddenly sugary and concerned, "whatever is the matter?"

"Danny said you offered us a place to stay?" she asked hopefully, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. "

"Of course, of course, but, where is the little badger?"

"We… we had a fight," she sobbed, "he wanted to go to Arkansas, but I want more than that! He said he didn't want to live with you, but I told him we should let bygones be bygones, but he wouldn't listen! Our future shouldn't rest in some backwater slum!"

"Oh, I understand completely my dear," the older half-ghost said, putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her inside. "I'm sure your brother will come to his senses. Still, I would be happy to have you around."

"Really?" she looked at him hopefully as he shut the door.

"Of course! I'm sure we can let bygones be bygones

"Wonderful!" she squealed, wrapping the older man in a hug.

"Now Jasmine, no need to ARGHH!"

Vlad leapt away from the young woman, staring at the device in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded, pointing to the Plasmius Maximus that had been concealed in her sleeve.

"From me!" Vlad didn't even have a chance to turn around and confront the young halfa before Danny smashed a Green Bay Packers trophy into the back of the billionaire's head, rendering him unconscious.

Duplicating himself, Danny grabbed the prone form of his nemesis while the copy held onto his sister.

"Your ready?" he asked, eyeing her as she pocketed the small device she had used on Vlad.

"Yeah, let's do this." Nodding, the two Danny's turned their passengers intangible and floated them down to Vlad's lab in the lower levels of the castle.

The Dannys set their cargo down. Danny shifted into his human form before addressing Jazz.

"You start on the computers, I'll look for something to restrain him." Nodding, Jazz went to one of the computer terminals and started working on gaining access to Vlad's computer system.

Danny began throwing open cabinets, looking for anything he recognized as a restraining device. Opening one, he found boxes clearly labeled "Confiscated Technology."

"Perfect," he muttered, grabbing a set of Skulker's handcuffs and one of the energy restraining devices Walker and his men used. He rushed over to the unconscious Vlad and placed his hands behind his back, snapping the cuffs on him. He then grabbed the baton-like device and fired, causing green bands of energy to wrap around Vlad's feet and already bound hands.

"Ok Jazz, he's secure for now."

"Great," she called over, "I've also got access to his computer system."

"Already?" He went over to look at the screen she was gazing at.

"Yeah, he's about as predictable as you," she stated dryly. "His password was Maddie Masters."

"Hey! I've changed mine!"

"What is it now, 'Valerie Fenton'?" she suppressed a giggle at the annoyed look on her brothers face.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no. Besides," he continued, pulling a seat at another terminal and logging in, "the point is a bit mute now that my computer has been blown to smithereens."

"Right," she nodded, suppressing the grief that welled up in her at the reminder of what had happened to their home. "So what are we looking for again?"

"Vlad's files on ghost hunting technology. Mom and dad's research might have been destroyed, but I'm willing to bet Vlad made copies of their stuff, not to mention the stuff he's developed on his own."

"Like what?"

"Oh, his cloning technology, ghost shields that stop non-ghosts, that sort of thing."

"Oh. Right. And if we do find that stuff?"

"Copy what we can and leave. I want to continue mom and dad's work. Eventually."

"Okay, I'll take care of this, you deal with Vlad."

Nodding, Danny got up and went back to the still form of Vlad Masters. He nudged the other hybrid with his foot.

"Vlad, hey Vlad!" he yelled, kicking him in the stomach, to no effect. Jazz called out from her computer.

"Try some smelling salts Danny!"

"Right," he quickly located the white box with red cross mounted on the wall in the corner of the lab. Tearing it open, he located a package of smelling salts.

Kneeling over his adversary, he put one of the packets under Vlad's nose and snapped it open.

He waved it under his nose a few times before Vlad finally started to come to.

"What the… Daniel?"

"Hello, V-Man," Danny said coldly, tossing the packet aside as he stood up to glare at the older halfa.

"What is this about?" he demanded, his eyes flashing red.

"Like you don't know," Danny deadpanned, not interested in playing Vlad's games.

"Humor me then, little badger," Vlad winced, starting to feel the bruise from Danny's earlier kick.

"It has to do with my parent's death, Vlad."

"Oh, I can assure you Daniel, I had nothing to do with that."

"You know, you might be able to fool other people, but I've heard you lie so many times, you can't really fool me. Tell me why you did it."

Vlad cringed, seeing the cold hatred on the young boys face, an emotion that seemed so foreign on the young man. True, he had seen Danny in various stages of anger, rage, fury, that sort of thing, but never hatred.

"My dear boy, I have no…" Vlad was cut off as Danny leaped forward, his left hand grabbing his neck. Instead of strangling him, like Vlad assumed he would, his hand instead began glowing blue, causing Vlad to shriek at the extreme cold of Danny's fingers.

Danny held on for a few moments before releasing him. Gasping, Vlad grasped at his throat where frostbite had caused a dark, painful handprint to form on his flesh.

"Now Vlad, I want the truth, or else there are softer more painful parts of the human anatomy I can grab."

"It was an accident," Vlad choked out, trying to back away from Danny, though his bindings where making that difficult.

"Really?" Danny sneered, "how was the portal exploding an accident?"

"Well, that wasn't, really…"

"Vlad…" Danny said dangerously, his hands once again glowing blue.

"Fine!" Vlad shouted, noticing the icy claws forming on Danny's fingers. "They were dead before the portal exploded."

"Explain!"

"You see," Vlad said, eyeing Danny's hands warily, "I had decided to act against your father once and for all. So I coerced three ghosts, who you're very familiar with, to distract you. Maddie would be out of the house for a while, as I had arranged a meeting between her and the city council on some trivial matter of ghost security, so I was free to deal with Jack myself."

"Go on," Danny said, staring coldly at Vlad, extending his crude claws.

"Your father put up a much better fight than I had expected," Vlad stated with a sneer, " and unfortunately, dear Maddie came home early. Really Daniel, there really isn't much more to be said."

"Of course there is," Jazz piped up from her place at the computer, her voice angry. "Such as, why both my parents are dead? Or how about, why you destroyed the portal?"

"Yes, back to that I see. The thing is, I had succeeded in doing away with Jack and I was elated, it being the culmination of years of planning. Now all I had to do was set up the scene to my liking and I would have Maddie in my arms soon enough."

"But?" Danny pushed, wanting all the facts before he decided his, and consequently his sister's, final course of action.

"But I didn't see your mother enter the house. She did, however, see me kill Jack. She was upset, to put it mildly, and promptly shot me in the back. Five times."

"So you killed her for that?" Danny asked, incredulous.

"No Daniel, I would never have killed Maddie because of that," Vlad sounded insulted that Danny would ever assume that and was now glaring at Danny. "No, her attacks took a lot out of me and forced me to revert to my human form. She tried to run, to where I'm not sure, but she said something about warning everybody. I tried to stop her, but she fought so hard…I'm sorry Daniel, I never meant to kill her."

"Of course not," his voice was sharp and unsympathetic. "So what about the portal?"

"She wounded me, I was bleeding. When the police would arrive to investigate, it would only be a matter of time before the DNA linked me to the crime.. Causing the portal to explode would take care of all of that pesky evidence."

"And kill another twenty people!" Danny shot back, lashing out with his foot and catching the billionaire in the chest. He raised his foot up again and delivered another blow to the head, knocking the man unconscious again.

"Jazz?" Danny's voice was ragged, his hands shaking from the storm of emotions swirling inside of him.

"Yes?" she responded quietly, more than a little disturbed at the viciousness Danny had just displayed.

"How are you doing on downloading his data?"

"I've got his files separated into technical schematics and research notes. His ghost database is relatively small, which is good."

"Which means?"

"Which means I'll be able to keep in on a few hard drives that we can take with us."

"Good," he rubbed his hands together, trying to get them to stay still. "How long do you think you'll need?"

"No more than an hour," she responded, focusing back on her computer screen.

Nodding, Danny began ransacking the lab, grabbing whatever looked like it might be useful and/or dangerous. While Jazz worked, Danny raided the rest of the mansion, grabbing whatever small valuables and cash he could find.

By the time he was done, Jazz had set up a laptop she had retrieved from Vlad's library and was currently transferring the date from his lab computer it.

"How much longer Jazz?"

"Give me a few minutes and I'll be done."

Danny nodded and flew off, doing another quick search of the castle. In the billionaires gym, he grabbed two duffle bags, which was more than sufficient to carry his plunder.

Back in the lab, Danny tossed the equipment he was salvaging into the bags, followed by the laptop as Jazz had finished transferring the data.

"You ready Jazz?" he asked, turning away from Vlad to face his sister, who was now looking very nervous.

"You sure you want to do this Danny?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"No, I know I don't want to do this," he replied honestly. "It's wrong on so many levels, but I can't help but feel that, while I don't want to do it, I _have_ to do it. I accept that it's something I'll have to live with. The question is, are you ready?"

"Yeah," she sighed, grabbing her younger brother in a tight hug before moving away from him, "just, be careful."

Nodding, Danny raised his hand, a ball of light green energy forming in it. Bracing herself against a workbench, she shut her eyes.

Very aware of how much, or in how this case, how little energy he was putting into this attack, he launched a beam of pale green energy, hitting his sister in the stomach. She grunted, but otherwise stayed upright. Pointing his finger at her, he fired a few grazing shots, causing more damage to her clothing than to her flesh.

"I'm done," he said sadly. "How are you doing?"

"I suppose I feel a lot better than I look," she replied, inspecting her self, "though I think my stomach is going to bruise tomorrow. Still, it will make sure the police buy my story."

"I'm sorry," he replied, placing his hand on her stomach where he hit her. Ignoring her wince, he released a small fraction of his ice abilities, effectively numbing that area. After making sure that she was relatively okay, he grabbed the two duffle bags and flew them up to the Specter Speeder, placing them in one of the internal storage bins.

He flew back into the mansion. He went up to the control panel for the ghost portal and pulled out the ecto filter. Almost immediately, the readout on the panel began to flash red, warning him that the filter needed to be replaced immediately. Ignoring it, Danny turned some of the dials, increasing the amount of energy the portal was drawing from the Ghost Zone.

"WARNING, SYSTEM OVERLOAD IN 10 MINUTES. REPLACE ECTO FILTRATION UNIT IMMEDIATELY." Ignoring the klaxon, he turned back to Jazz.

"It's probably time you start running."

Jazz nodded her head and dashed up the stairs, pulling out her cell phone. Sighing, Danny picked up the package of smelling salts and returned to Vlad.

He grabbed the unconscious billionaire and pulled him up with him to the first floor of the mansion and the Ghost Portal hidden behind the painting.

"Time to wake up V-Man," he said sadly, holding it under Vlad's nose after uncovering the portal.

"Ugh," Vlad stirred, slowly opening his eyes. "Daniel?"

"You have about nine minutes to live Vlad," Danny said seriously, the mechanical warning voice going off at that moment, accenting his point. "By now Jazz has called the police to report a ghost attack on the Master's home. If it makes you feel any better, the story will go that you sacrificed yourself to give her time to get away. You'll die a hero Vlad, which is more than I think you deserve."

Vlad's face paled dramatically as Danny's words soaked in.

"Daniel… Danny," he corrected himself, "it was an accident!"

"I'm sorry Vlad, I can't stop, not now." Danny sat down next to Vlad, changing into his ghost form. "Don't worry, I'll be here until your end."

"What?" Vlad was staring wide-eyed at the young teen, for once truly looking confused.

"I said, I'm staying here. I need to make sure you don't escape and, well," he paused for a moment, his gaze settling on the swirling green of the portal. "I don't like you Vlad but I don't want you dead. But, I need you dead."

"Dan…"

"If I believed that you would change your ways, I wouldn't be doing this. But I know ghosts, and you are as obsessive as any true ghost, despite your human half. I don't think you could control yourself, even if you wanted to. Without mom around and with dad dead, the only thing left for you is to make me your apprentice. Now, without the threat of me revealing you to mom, there is nothing significant stopping you from enacting your machinations."

"WARNING! EIGHT MINUTES TO PORTAL OVERLOAD!"

Danny sighed, shaking his head at the warning siren. He turned his gaze back to Vlad, whose eyes were suddenly looking downcast.

"If it means anything Vlad," Danny said, turning his head back to the portal, "I am sorry. If there was some other way, short of keeping you in a Fenton Thermos for all eternity, that would keep the world safe from you, I would have done it."

"I understand Daniel," the billionaire replied, his voice somber, lacking any of the usual arrogance Danny associated with Vlad.

Danny nodded his head, not having anything else to say.

"I wasn't lying," he continued, "back during that whole fiasco with your clone."

"Oh?"

"All I truly ever wanted was to be loved."

"I can understand," Danny replied quietly, thinking about his relations with the girls of his school and his feeble attempts at gaining popularity. "Though manipulating and deceiving people isn't the best way to go about it."

"No," he replied, "I suppose not. After all, look where it got me."

"WARNING! SIX MINUTES TO PORTAL OVERLOAD!"

"Really, the last thing I wanted to hear when I went out was a countdown," Vlad growled, glaring at the speaker box next to the portal.

"Yeah, well, I always figured I would kick the proverbial bucket by being shot by my parents. Or Valerie," Danny replied, slightly amused. "At least you're going out at the hand of an enemy."

"True," Vlad chuckled dryly, having decided that he should enjoy his last five minutes. "Albeit, a now very wealthy enemy."

"Oh?" Danny looked at Vlad in surprise.

"Indeed. I left a majority of my fortune to your mother, who, according to my lawyers, has split her and Jack's property between you and…"

"WARNING! FOUR MINUTES TO PORTAL OVERLOAD!"

"… Jasmine," Vlad scowled. "I don't suppose you would be kind enough to shut that blasted voice off?"

"Sorry, but I do need to know when to leave."

"You should go now," the seriousness had returned to Vlad's voice, causing Danny to look at him. "It's too dangerous for you to stay."

"I'm not leaving Vlad," Danny said firmly.

"I'm surprised at you Daniel, you haven't referred to me as a fruit loop, cheese head, or any other of your favorite terms for me."

"Well, to use your words, 'funny joke-around Danny isn't here today'."

"No," he mused, "I suppose not."

The two half-ghosts sat in silence for minute or so, the silence only being broken as the computer belted out a two minute warning.

"Do you think you'll turn into a ghost?" Danny said out of the blue. Vlad was taken back by the abruptness of the question. He pondered at it a bit before answering.

"I hope not. While the abilities are nice, I don't believe I would be able to stand it, watching the living and only being able to remember what life was like."

"I don't know much about religion or the after life," Danny stated slowly, "but Sam's parents are Jewish and she's told me a bit about religion, so for whatever it's worth, I'll pray for you."

"Thank you Daniel, I do appreciate the sentiment. It is amusing though," he stated sadly, "here we are, half ghosts, having built portals to the spirit realm, and yet we know nothing about the after life. After all…"

"WARNING! THIRTY SECONDS TO PORTAL OVERLOAD!"

"Well Vlad, I'd say it's been fun, but…"

"I understand Little Badger. If it's any consolation, I am sorry for what I've done."

Danny merely nodded as both halfas turned their heads to the ghost portal, listening to the emotionless mechanical voice finish the countdown.

"EIGHT"

"SEVEN"

"SIX"

"FIVE"

"FOUR"

"THREE"

"TWO"

Danny threw a shield up around himself.

"ONE"

* * *

AN: Like I said, this was once part of a larger story I was writing before I scrapped it. I t could have been worse, as I have ten chapters and almost 40K or words written for a fic that, after those 10 chaps and 40K words, I didn't like so much. I might post eventually, but that would mean going over all of it, so we'll see. Anyway, it just seems to be a problem I have when writing long, multi-chapter stories. 

If anyone has suggestions on how I can improve my writing (or figure out why I always abandon a story after putting in lots of work into it), please don't hesitate to review or send me a message. Actually, even if you don't, don't hesitate to review. I like everything except flames. Thank you.


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